POVs: The Triangle Pt 2: Elisa
by Cosmina Inspira
Summary: The second part of a three part mini series which looks into the thoughts of Demona, Elisa, and Goliath and the unexpected main love triangle of the series.
1. Chapter 1

The Triangle Ch. 2: Elisa

By Cosmic Inspiration

Disclaimer: The Gargoyles animated series is the property of the Walt Disney Company and Buena Vista Animation, and originally created by Greg Weisman. Stories of TGS are the creation and property of the TGS staff and used here with their consent to other fan fiction writers with the condition of acknowledgement. No copyright infringement is intended and not authorized by the copyholder. This writer makes no profit from this story and only writes for fun of creativity and entertainment as a fan of the series. All original characters are the property of the author Inspiration.

* * *

It was a night like any other on the mean streets of the Big Apple, a night of seemingly never ending police work of protect and serve; of catching the bad guy and delivering justice; and then of boring as hell paperwork afterwards.

Or rather it seemed to begin that way.

Detective Elisa Maza of New York City's 23rd Police Precinct had just apprehended a known street robber and drug addict, then passed the junkie off to her fellow uniformed officers when her police radio buzzed to life.

"Attention all units, mysterious disturbance reported at Eerie Building, Central Park South. Repeat: mysterious disturbance at Eerie Building, Central Park South. Disturbance reported to be an explosion from unknown cause. Proceed with caution."

It would have almost seemed like fate that she happened to be close by the reported address of some unidentified disturbance, but then as a police detective Elisa did not believe too much in fate.

In one swift and graceful movement she had a magnetized police light on the roof of her very unlikely squad car, a red 1960s Ford Fairlane, and her siren wailing as she sped quickly to the reported disturbance, speeding down the street so fast she ignored New York traffic lights and other motorists, coming dangerously close to getting into an accident.

A curious crowd had already gathered and large piles of stone debris covered the streets, and more continued to fall. Getting out of her car, Elisa stared up at the tallest building in New York City, or even possibly the world, its very top stories obscured by low cloud cover as though trying to rise above the clouds and touch an intangible unending sky.

Red lights briefly flashed as explosions thundered in fury as though from small bombs echoed from above, a new rain of stone debris fell to the streets as a seemingly miniature apocalyptic meteor shower, a yellow cab sat crushed by a steel beam abandoned in the middle of the street. It was as though a small war had broken out high above.

More people gathered to witness the destruction with awed curiosity, several uniformed officers trying to keep the crowd away and under control should a possible riot beak out, Elisa quickly making her way to one she instantly recognized.

"Get back!" warned the officer to the growing crowd, then noticing Elisa as she held up her badge.

"Maza, 23rd, what's goin' on here?" she quickly asked with authority.

"Got me, Detective," Officer Morgan said as they looked up to the unseen chaos above, "Must be a heck of a party up there."

Yet more stone debris fell, causing Elisa to jump back and land on her back from the impact, but she was not fazed by it. Dust momentarily blurred her vision, but she was able to warn back several by standers who stood too close to the alleged war zone.

"Or you'll wind up street pizza," she sighed with slight annoyance, thinking people should know better.

Something peculiar then caught her observant eye as she glanced back at a nearby large stone, several deep scratches blemished it in a random pattern as though from a powerful animal claw.

"Claw marks?" she mused with confused curiosity as she touched them.

Elisa stared back up to the obscured fortress in the sky with suspicion to see yet more stone debris rain down to the street below, causing more damage, among which was now a ruined fire hydrant that spewed its contained water as a small downpour.

Elisa narrowed her eyes as she tugged at her jacket to keep from getting drenched by spouting water, then glimpsed back to the marked stone, one question going through her mind that needed answering;

"What could be strong enough to leave claw marks in solid stone?"

Before long the explosions ceased, and it grew quiet from above. The gathered crowd murmured amongst themselves, demanding answers as to what had really happened to cause such a terrible explosion at the top of the city's tallest building.

"What do you figure that was all about, Detective?" inquired Officer Morgan, curious as she was.

"I don't know," she said with quiet determination, "But I'm going to find out."


	2. Chapter 2

It was not long before television news crews, even the new WVRN news station, arrived and began reporting on the disaster. An executive looking man stepped out to the crowd of reporters to give his statement about an electrical generator being the cause of the explosion. Elisa used the distraction to make her way into the lobby of the Eerie Building, a place she was sure was a metaphorical lion's den.

The Eerie Building may have looked like just another tall skyscraper that dotted the world famous skyline of New York City and attracted tourists from around the world, like the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building or the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, but Elisa knew better. It was a financial and business hub that acted as a near literal home office of dozens of executive offices of business and banking for many branches of the city's life blood in political and industrial economics, all of which was owned by the multi-billion dollar corporation of Xanatos Enterprises, whose primary stock holder was none other than David Xanatos himself.

Elisa only knew this David Xanatos primarily through rumor and reputation. He was said to be more than twice as rich as Bill Gates, Hugh Hefner Donald Trump, and John D. Rockefeller combined with more than enough money to spare for several small countries. The Wall Street Journal called him a break through industrialist and philanthropist in the creation of new jobs and business leadership. People Magazine ranked him as being in the Top Ten riches people alive, the Most Eligible Bachelor in America, and the Sexiest Man Alive for almost three years running.

He was also reputed to be a collector of rare and exotic oddities. His latest acquisition was said to be a medieval castle from Ireland, or some such place, he had literally moved stone by stone to the top of this very building, complete with all of its original stonemasonry and its chiseled Gothic stone gargoyles.

But none of that mattered to Elisa, for she always believed that no matter how rich or powerful, or how many politicians and businessmen someone can claim in their pocket, no one is above the law.

Walking into the large and immaculately decorated lobby she showed her badge to the security guard and politely yet authoritively asked to speak with Mr. Xanatos. The guard, a pudgy looking man, did as asked with slight reluctance. Elisa did not have long to wait, for she was soon approached by a stiff faced man with a pasty yet flawless complexion, well kept pale blond hair, a well pressed business suit, and a wooden expression behind a pair of spotless round glasses. Everything about the man spoke of order and properness, that behind his stiffness he commanded a lot of respect with just a look.

"Good evening, Detective," he said with a nasally voice that sounded just as wooden as his face, yet he did not extend his hand in greeting, "I am Owen Burnett, personal assistant to Mr. Xanatos. What can I do for you?"

Elisa held up her badge for him to see, which he regarded with his ever stiff demeanor, as she said, "Thank you for seeing me on short notice, Mr. Burnett, I have a few questions about the explosions earlier for your boss, Mr. Xanatos."

"A most unfortunate accident," Owen began, he then blatantly confirmed about an exploding generator causing all of the destruction in the castle from above, but Elisa was not buying it not just because of the mysterious 'claw marks' on the stone she saw, but she also heard what she was sure had been weapons fire which she confidently told to the executive assistant. She partially bluffed him with the threat of getting a warrant and more cops unless he allowed her to look the place over herself. For a moment it seemed as though a slight smile curved at the corners of Mr. Burnett's lips, giving a bit more life to his stiff demeanor. Whether or not he believed her, Elisa was sure she had made her point of not being one to be messed with.

They entered a large grey room which Elisa was sure was part of the medieval castle Xanatos had recently purchased. She made a comment about the heating bill when a man's deep tenor voice greeted her from behind.

"Detective Maza," said the man Elisa was sure had to be the big man himself. She had only seen pictures of David Xanatos, yet she could see that they did not do him justice. He was indeed a handsome man with a charismatic charm and confidence to himself, had to be about 6'4'' with a strong youthful build beneath the expensive Italian suit he wore, his long dark brown hair was cut into a mullet and pulled back into a ponytail, which matched his well trimmed goatee.

He told her that he just called the mayor to apologize for the incident, yet Elisa could tell that although he was being civilized, she was sure he did not do it with real sincerity.

She asked him what really happened, not wanting to hear the excuse of an 'exploding generator.'

"That's for the press," Xanatos seemed to smirk, "The truth is that my men repealed an invasion from a rival corporation trying to steal some of our new technology."

Elisa gasped at him, she had just met this man and already she could tell that there was something about him she did not like, for that explanation sounded too quick and too rehearsed. She told him he was a private citizen not a country, which he just arrogantly responded to about being head of a multi-national corporation bigger than many countries. Elisa was sure now that she was not going to like this man because he was just like the rest of his kind; arrogant and prideful because he feels secure in his wealth, which he believed put him above the law of the 'common man.'

Unfortunately, just like everyone else she had to treat him with respect and dignity, and give him the benefit of the doubt as she continued to question him. It was not a perfect system, but it was a system that she knew could work and strongly believed in.

Xanatos cooperated with her enough as he answered her questions with what she was sure were only half truths until his assistant said something about trouble in the kitchen with some 'new guests.' Obviously he was trying to hide something.

The businessman then excused himself politely as Owen was about to escort her to the elevators, when a small movement seemed to catch her eye. On a turret just above them, Elisa saw a winged figure hold perfectly still as though a chiseled statue. Although she told the major domo about it, they dismissed it as a trick of the eye in the darkness.

Elisa only went down a floor or two before she stopped the elevator and stepped out to a darker part of the castle, determining that her investigation was not yet over. Xanatos may have given his full cooperation, but she will not be satisfied until she found the answer to what really made those claw marks on stone and what really caused the disturbance earlier.

Taking out her police flashlight, Elisa came to a dark corner of the castle that may not have had electricity installed yet, giving the ancient stone fortress the essence of a dark foreboding place that inspired the ancient primal human fear of the unknown. It was made ever more ominous seeming as her torch shined on medieval tapestries and suits of armor that deeper defined its ambiance and the real heritage of the castle.

Steeling herself against such fears, Elisa continued inside the castle, making a joke about Dracula. She then came to a staircase that led up to another part of the dark castle, its dark presence foreboding yet strangely inviting. She had only taken two steps up when a sound rumbled from somewhere behind her. Turning quickly from instinct, her torch revealed nothing there. Laughing at herself for reacting to nothing, she continued up the stairs. Clearly it was just the wind blowing through the old cracks of the ancient castle, because for an instant it sounded like an animal growling.

She soon came outside to another castle rampart, even taking a moment to admire the amazing view of the shining city below, the thick rainy cloud cover having now thinned to but a few wispy cloudlets.

There came that growling again, this time she was sure she heard something. Dousing her flashlight, she leaned against the wall near the doorway, drew her revolver and cocked it ready. Someone seemed to be going to a lot of trouble to scare her with a Scooby Doo style joke. No one got the drop on Detective Elisa Maza.

She heard footsteps quickly approach up the stairs, she pointed her gun at the would-be stalker through the doorway, telling him to come out nice and easy.

A huge blue monster as though from her darkest nightmares stepped out from the shadows and snarled in hunger at her. Ancient primal fears took over Elisa's rational mind, her first instinct to shoot and kill the creature that would make her its next kill for its meat.

She aimed her weapon at the monster, time seeming to slow down for but a second in her mind, when a huge clawed hand grabbed her weapon from behind and pulled it from her grip, making her turn to suddenly see another and even larger monster standing behind her and easily crush her weapon. It looked at her with angry dark eyes, making her back away in fear.

If this was Xanatos' idea of a joke to frighten her off, it was working, for Elisa now felt as though she was the first weak female victim to be killed by a psycho monster in some cheesy horror movie. She hated herself for feeling this way as she tried to back away from the monster against the hard stone wall.

When suddenly there was no more wall!

Elisa tried to stop herself from slipping over the edge, but gravity had already taken hold of her in its grip. The next thing she knew she was falling from the world's tallest building, and had it not been for the very real fear that gripped her stomach and clenched her heart she would have thought it all nothing but a bad dream, the falling a signal to her sleeping mind to now wake up.

The world rose above her with unthinkable speed, becoming massive unending mountainous canyons that threatened to swallow her up, the castle in the clouds fading from sight quickly to once again disappear in the heavens beyond human reach. Yet where some micro part of her logical mind expected to see her life flash before her eyes, instead they locked onto a winged being diving after her at an incredible velocity as though a living missile.

Or perhaps an avenging angel of the night.

It was the monster that had frightened her from before, and given its great size it had caught up to her fall with incredible speed. With remarkable gentleness, it grasped Elisa in its talons and pulled her close to its massive figure, instinct telling her to grasp its muscular neck, as it then unfurled like living sails enormous bat like wings the color of midnight stormy clouds. Their descent quickly slowed as the wings gathered updrafts into themselves and gently carried them upwards, the huge creature soaring for but a second over the gathered crowd, and then they soon landed safely on a low nearby ledge of the Eerie Building.

The creature released her, panic threatened to overtake her as Elisa leaned hard up against the solid wall and subconsciously felt its reassuring presence. Elisa concentrated on trying to control her breathing as she gasped hard from the adrenaline coursing through her body from the fall. She focused intensely on the monster that had just saved her life, taking in all its detail with her observant eyes while also coming to the conclusion that perhaps it does not mean her any harm.

Light from the streets below helped Elisa to better see her unusual rescuer, for though the creature was ever fearsome to behold, it, or rather he, held himself with a sort of quiet dignity. Looking at him from toe to head, the monster had to be around seven feet tall, maybe more, and was more or less humanoid in shape with the additional dark bat wings and long powerful looking tail. The feet however were large and arched up with a spike on each heel and three talon toes upon which he stood, almost avian like. The face was square shaped with a strong jaw line and was also more or less human like, yet there was something alien about it with the small horns over his brows, the large pointed ears, long night dark sable hair, and the stern stoic expression on his face. Every muscle of his figure was sculpted to absolute perfection; rippling with sinewy detail and carrying power to lift a tank and be respected with fear and admiration, especially with the broad shoulders and huge barreled chest, the large wings upon his back strangely delicate in comparison, but she knew they too were incredibly stronger than they looked. Either the light had played tricks on her eyes or the shadowy lavender shade of his skin was his real skin color, as though he could easily blend with an early dusk sky or night shadows. All he seemed to wear for clothing was a dark brown loincloth made of some sort of animal leather and a thick black belt was all that held it on.

For a moment, Elisa thought the creature was smiling a bit at her.

Elisa soon calmed down enough as she observed the creature staring at her, that she had to try and determine its real intension.

"Okay," she said patiently in reassurance, for clearly this could still be a dangerous and unpredictable wild animal, "Just take it easy."

"What were you doing in my castle?" the creature suddenly demanded with the most amazingly deep booming voice Elisa had ever heard.

He can talk!

Who or what exactly was this creature?!

"My kind have no names," he told her, "But you humans call me Goliath."

The name seemed to fit him extremely well, given his size and stature, yet there is more than one of these monsters?

"Barely," he growled low in his throat as he breathed from seeming frustration.

Goliath began to turn away from her as though to leave, but she stopped him from going for the last thing she needed was to be stuck on this ledge for the rest of the night, it was either to the street below or the castle above. He had wings; surely he could fly them both to either one.

"I can only glide on currents of wind," he bluntly corrected to her, "There are none strong enough here to lift us back up."

Great, they were going to be stuck here forever.

A huge hand suddenly grabbed her slender arm, startling Elisa as the creature named Goliath then gently placed her on his muscular back between his leathery wings.

"Hold on," he breathed with a tone of inconvenienced annoyance in his voice, his claws then biting into the hard concrete wall of the building with incredible strength as though it were made of soft pumice instead of concrete.

Elisa held on tightly to Goliath's neck, her life literally depending on it, though she tried not to look down at the fading streets below out of morbid curiosity. She heaved a sudden breath, her eyes widening to near perfect circles.

"Trust me," Goliath rumbled as she held tighter to him, shutting her eyes for a moment to close out the fearful image of her falling again. Part of her wondered if she was going to have acrophobia from now on.

"I don't believe this," she gasped, knowing that she had no choice but to trust this giant creature with her life.

It took forever to finally reach the top, but finally she slipped from the gentle giant's back and began to breath heavily to steady her rapid heartbeat, and be mentally overjoyed to be back on 'solid ground' only to find the big blue beast from earlier snarling at her again.

Elisa backed away from the beast in fright, admitting to have forgotten about it, though Goliath assured her that the beast will not hurt her as he patted its head like a loyal pet.

Again he asked why she was here in his castle.

"And please, don't fall off the building this time," he said with a bit of lightness in his deep voice.

Elisa could not help but smile at his attempt at humor, her fear of him quickly waning. He did just save her life, so obviously if he wanted to harm her, he already would have.

She took out her badge, which Goliath regarded with a bit of a raise brow, the blue beast sniffing her like a curious dog checking out a new unknown visitor to its home.

"My name is Detective Elisa Maza; I'm a 2nd class police detective with the NYPD. I was investigating reported explosions from this place and I had reason to believe that the building's owner knew something about it. If he knew about dangerous weapons being fired off in a building full of people it would mean serious consequences, and it's up to me to find out."

Goliath scowled as he said, "There was indeed an attack upon this castle, and just as before a thousand years ago my clan defends our home with their lives. Now if that is all you wish to know I suggest you leave, now."

Elisa raised an eyebrow, knowing that clearly there was more to this than meets the eye. She politely yet confidently requested to ask him a few more questions if he was a witness to this alleged attack.

"And what concern is it of yours? You are a human," he scowled.

It was her job to know about such things for it allowed Elisa to better defend against such dangers should it happen to other innocent people.

"You are a knight of this realm," he said with intrigue, "And the shield you carry is a mark of honor."

"Yes, something like that."

"Much truly has changed, for I have never heard of a human female baring the title of warrior in my time."

Elisa became more confused and intrigued by what this 'man' had to say. She decided that if she is going to have his full cooperation, they will answer each other's questions in good faith. Besides, for some reason she just could not take her eyes off of him because he was just so impressive looking and she could tell that there was a nobleness to him that radiated off of him.

"My story," he said as he looked away from her with a far off thoughtful gaze, "is a long and painful one. I do not wish to speak of it."

Elisa did not think that this creature would be one to want her pity, yet beneath his mighty and fearsome appearance she could see there was a grief stricken and broken soul. With some kindness and patience, she told him that it may help for him to talk about it.

Goliath began his story with some reluctance, and it was definitely too fantastic to believe despite him standing in front of her as proof. One thousand years ago, humans and gargoyles coexisted within the walls of this very castle, though the humans treated his clan with contempt and very little tolerance. Goliath's clan even numbered to more than one hundred members where now there were only a few, for the others were slaughtered by a large band of raiding Vikings in their sleep. The one human Goliath had trusted and counted as a friend, the captain of the guard, had then betrayed his clan and in turn greatly angering Goliath and forever making him distrustful of humans. There was another misunderstanding and the last of his clan were put into a seeming forever sleep by a magic spell until the 'castle rose above the clouds.' Now the remaining survivors were the last of their kind in the whole world.

Magic. Elisa never would have believed that such a thing could even exist, being something only heard of in fairy tales, yet even in a stressful career as a police officer she had always tried to keep an open mind and always believed that the world can be filled with wonders. The stories her mother and fraternal grandparents had told always taught her that.

She developed a deeper understanding of him, a strange need to heal this broken soul beckoned her and hopefully to help him understand that not all humans are like that.

Who else knew about him?

"Only the man called Xanatos," Goliath answered just as several more creatures walked up around them, "He brought us here."

The situation was becoming a bit overwhelming now, even though she had been told there were more, dealing with the thought of just one had been enough for her mind to rationalize on. A red one with an elongated snout took a sniff at her, making her flinch and take a step back, wondering if she was a new friend which she certainly hoped she is. It was understandable that the others were weary of her. Goliath introduced her to these others, carefully pronouncing her rank to them then she showed them her badge. An old brownish one with a beard and a thick accent, Scottish maybe, asked her what exactly she did. As she attempted to explain her job and how the justice system worked, that it was how the people decided, Goliath spat out,

"You mean the _humans_ decide."

He turned away from her, took a few steps away in frustrated anger. He suddenly demanded loudly for her to leave, _now_ , as though something had him suddenly on edge. Patiently she asked if she could see him again tomorrow; only because she wanted to know him better and help him understand the city, she owed him that much for saving her life. He finally agreed and they arranged to meet on another rooftop in view across from the castle after dark, though for reasons she did not understand why.

"Why were _you_ sneaking into the castle?" Goliath pointed out.

"A good detective trusts no one," she stated with seriousness.

"That's one thing we have in common," Goliath said with quiet anger.

It will take time to completely earn his trust, Elisa could understand that, so she gave him a small smile and a respectful nod goodbye then left down another flight of stairs.

The crowd had mostly dispersed when she returned to the damaged streets below, and her mind was still reeling from her extreme experience this night. She gave a quick glance back up to the castle, straining her neck to really see it. She knew that her life had just changed, possibly forever, in just one night and the worst of it that she could think of was how she was going to write it all up in her report.

Creatures of myth, magic, enchanted castles; it all sounded like something from a darkened Disney movie and yet it was all real. Could the stress of her job have finally gotten to her and started to make her go insane and see things that were not really there? No, she was sure it was all real and she just needed a little time to absorb it all, and if there was another explanation she was sure she will find out soon enough.

On the way back to the precinct, Elisa decided that the best thing to do was to write it up as being an attack upon Xanatos by some unknown terrorist group supposedly working for a rival corporation. In a sense it was true and she knew that her captain and the higher ups will believe it. Who would ever believe it was actually Gargoyles doing battle in an old Scottish stone castle?


	3. Chapter 3

Her sleep was restless throughout most of the day, for she kept having dreams of falling and then suddenly being saved by a large winged being of great size and power. She was finally able to get some sleep when the dream flowed into a beautiful scene of a bright glowing city below a clear velvet night sky with iridescent stars, Lady Liberty coming into view glowing a bright clear green with her golden torch shining as a beacon as she held it proudly to the sky, all the time strong arms held her close for safety as they soared in their own world. Far off in her subconscious, Elisa felt ridiculously like Lois Lane falling for Superman who saves her for the first time.

She was finally able to get some sleep before she awoke an hour before sunset, quickly showered and dressed before telling herself to slow down a bit to reassure herself that Goliath would be there. Part of her was still unsure if it had been real and if she could really trust this Goliath to keep his word. For now all she could do was stay with her plan and take it from there.

Being a native New Yorker, Elisa soon arrived at the building Goliath wanted to meet atop of, though she had almost missed it as her mind wandered a bit about how she was going to help Goliath and his friends with understanding the city and other ways she can repay him. Coming out to the rooftop, she gently called out to the silence for another presence, still unsure of what to expect when a large form stepped out from behind a wall, momentarily startling her then asked why he was hiding. He had only hidden because he wanted to be sure she was alone, though she was sure Goliath had nothing to worry about, looking strong enough to take on a whole SWAT team. Elisa understood better now that Goliath was as unsure about her as Elisa was of him, but she was sure that they could soon work past it as they gave small smiles to each other.

Elisa whirled around startled by a loud thump from behind.

"What are you doing here?" Goliath asked the new arrival, the old bearded tan Gargoyle.

"Just making sure that you weren't being ambushed," he said.

It was laughable how paranoid they seemed to be, even for New York, though in a sense it was understandable. Although eager to begin the nickel tour of New York City, she knew Goliath's name but wondered about what to call the old one. It confused him about the human need to name things as though it was the only way to make something real and give it limits, but Elisa could only say that things needed names, for that was how she always knew it to be, even geographic locations as the old Gargoyle asked about even naming a river, which was called the Hudson.

"Fine, lass, then I will be the Hudson as well," he said with a bit of defeated reluctance. A funny thought occurred to Elisa that it was a good thing they were not facing Queens then; taking a name like that might have been a blow for the old Gargoyle.

Elisa knew she had her hands full if she wanted to keep people from seeing these possible new friends of hers, but Goliath gave the simple solution of staying on the rooftops and out of sight of by standers. Sure, easy for him to say, he has wings to glide with but she is an earthbound human. Her question was quickly answered as he easily swept her up into his hands as though she weighed nothing, making her gasp in surprise. Somehow it felt right and strangely comfortable as she gently put her hand around Goliath's neck and they again shared small smiles to each other. They then noticed the newly named Hudson giving them a stern hard look as though he suspected something.

"Coming…er, Hudson?"

Hudson declined, claiming the city was 'too big, too bright, too loud,' then soared back to the castle leaving them behind. It amused Elisa a bit that the first thing Goliath wanted to see was 'the dangers that threatened him and his kind,' making him sound so pessimistic even when she told him to 'lighten up.' So she decided to show him the most popular tourist spots. With a flare of his wings and a quick leap, they were soon in the air, Elisa's stomach gave a small jump as they left the solidity of the rooftop and became air borne on unseen wind currents only to be felt and caressed by the skin and tasted on the tongue. For an instant she was sure they were going to fall as she thought of her experience from last night, but the fall never came.

It was like a dream. No, it was like the dream she had in her restless sleep, yet her heart knew this to be real; beyond real; it was surreal. She was free.

Far up above the crowded and congested city the air was cleaner and somehow easier to breath, allowing her mind to become clearer than it had been in a long time as though a fog had lifted from her soul that she had never known was there. She was now in a new world that most people can only dream about, yet have not truly touched though they eternally try. The city now opened before her in a way that she had never seen before. Such a sight is seen from a plane or helicopter, yet it is always taken for granted for what it truly is from such a view which made it pale all the more in comparison to the true freedom now being shared with her by this amazing creature, no, this amazing _being_ that she had only last night discovered could even exist. This must be what it really feels like to be truly alive.

Time had seemed to slow to a halt as she reveled in her exhilaration until the deep rumbling baritone of an otherworldly voice drew her attention with his questions about her world. Her rational mind finally caught up with the rest of her wandering thoughts as she began pointing out the most famous landmarks in Manhattan, such as Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge, Broadway, 5th Avenue, Lexington Avenue, the World Trade Center, the Chrysler Building, and finally they made a landing atop the Empire State Building. Goliath was indeed in awe of what he saw, the accomplishments made by man in one thousand years; stone streets finer than those built by the ancient Romans among towers of glass and iron, though Elisa was used to it. The view they sighted together was breathtaking, and Goliath marveled at it as a typical touring 'out-of-towner' until he inquired about not seeing any walls protecting the city from outside invaders.

"Well, our biggest worries aren't from outside, they're from inside," she told the large gargoyle, speaking well from experience.

"That I am all too familiar with," he said with a glare, clearly understanding all too well.

Curious about where such trouble could be found she was sure it was in even the most unexpected parts of the city, but she told him to glide to one of the seedier parts of Manhattan that she knew of. It was not long before she spotted a man in a long brown overcoat being harassed by a trio of street thugs in front of his blond haired wife inside their broken down car in an abandoned and deserted street. She quickly drew their attention as she mocked them, even showing them her badge, which they only smirked at being less than impressed about, as they shifted their predatory sights on her instead of the stranded couple. Elisa laughed, for she was sure they were in for a big surprise as she drew them down a side alley way.

Goliath gave a dangerous roar at them, easily and quickly taking them out as the thugs tried to attack him but the giant Gargoyle proved too much for them, and showed that he lived up to his name.

"Margot, run!" she heard the man yell as his wife screamed in fright at the sight of Goliath. Elisa thought that the woman looked familiar somehow, but could only think that the couple was such yuppies for acting the way they did.

She only gave a faint whistle at what she had seen Goliath do, impressed with how easily he took down the thugs without breaking a sweat, and only knocking them unconscious without killing them. As she had watched him fight, she knew that here was a true warrior, one that knew different ways to fight without killing and holding back just enough to deliver a needed blow to the enemy. It had only lasted a few seconds, but he was amazing and unbelievably graceful in his battle prowess. She understood a tad why the yuppie couple had fled, for Goliath was indeed fearsome in the fight.

"Human gratitude?" he asked with an unsurprised tone to their reaction.

"I guess," she simply said, but despite it she wanted him to know that he impressed at least one human this night, "You know, Goliath, you may be the best thing to happen to this city in a long time."

She smiled at him as she left the alley, a proud feeling growing within her at what she had just witnessed, understanding more and more how Goliath had claimed to be someone whose sole purpose was to protect. A kind of kindred spirit connection that she knew they shared strongly.

They soared through the air soon again, only stopping once to grab a quick bite to eat from a late open convenience store. The store clerk gave a frightful yelp at seeing Goliath's large form through the glass doors, almost attempting to call the police before Elisa showed him her badge and assuring him he was safe. They also caught another group of gangbangers carjacking an expensive Jaguar, leaving them bruised and tied up for the nearest police patrol. They then landed gracefully in what Elisa always thought was one of the best places in New York, Central Park, for she wanted to show Goliath a more natural setting when he expressed how unnatural the city appeared to him without a forest or rolling green hills. He even quickly saved a young couple from a stalking mugger when he tried to rob them of their valuables, again running at the sight of Goliath.

As they soon took a walk through the park, Elisa attempted a joke about being the only couple safe from muggers, Goliath only grumbling cynically about how savage this world was like the one he remembered, his face a stern angered expression of resentment. Though Elisa felt a bit defensive about her world, she understood how he must be feeling simply because of how people have judged him so far, having gone through something similar when she was a kid growing up. But she knew the good side and the beauty of this city that she has seen, simply by what was taught to her and her siblings by their racially different parents, something she wanted to show Goliath.

For a moment she was sure his expression had softened before he cocked his ear as though having heard something she could not and giving a small confused grunt. Before she could react several things happened simultaneously; as Goliath turned around to where whatever he heard was, he gave a growl of surprise at the sound of a faint gunshot, followed suddenly by an ambush of several armored people, their faces mostly hidden by helmets and goggles, one who kicked away her gun as she drew it and one grabbing her from behind to restraint her as the others tried to bring Goliath down in a dog pile. At first he was able to fight them off, even roaring in mighty defiance with his wings flared wide before they again grabbed onto him and he finally went down. Elisa was sure he had somehow been shot with some kind of tranquilizer, but more importantly she wanted to know who these people were and what they really wanted. A tall muscular man with an overly husky voice as though he always had a dry throat obviously had to be their leader, drew a big gun and said something about tying up loose ends.

With quick determination and long experience on the force, Elisa easily took down her own captor and the leader with grease lightening reflexes. Somehow, with whatever strength Goliath had left, he was able to finally rise and throw the other goons off of himself like annoying flies. They made a quick escape as the sole female member of the unknown commandos started shooting at them; Goliath leaped from a nearby rock to take to the air but was instead wavering in his trajectory as he tried to glide on the winds so close to the ground. Elisa felt the shakiness of his weak gliding, his struggle to stay aloft forcing her to hold tighter to him should he crash. Before it had been so easy on the winds as though they were his element, where now any air current seemed against him or his wings were too weak, refusing to lift him higher.

They made a fair distance before Goliath finally succumbed to his growing weakness, turning quickly to crash on his side, preventing her from damage. Elisa knew they had no choice but to walk from there as she attempted to lift her massive companion's arm over her shoulder, now realizing just how heavy he must really be. A short distance away they struggled to get under an arching bridge, Goliath collapsing to his knee with a groan. On his broad shoulder she found the dart that must have been filled with whatever sedative those lunatics had shot him with, along with a tiny disc barely noticeable from beneath his left wing. Obviously a radio transmitter those goons had been tracking him with, Goliath understanding it as a form of magic that lead the goons to them. But the real questions were how it got onto Goliath in the first place, who they were working for, and why.

The disc's beetle shaped logo might be a good clue.

After putting the disc on a stray dog, she took Goliath's arm around her shoulders again, determined to get him some place safe to recover. They needed to get out of the park, both stubbornly refusing to stop though Elisa's legs began to feel like lead and a strain grew in her lower back as she carried Goliath on her shoulders as they persevered through the park with vigilance. In his own way, Goliath struggled to keep up his strength and not be such a burden on her, but Elisa could see it put a strain on him; the sedative coursing through his bloodstream sapped his strength, his breathing was becoming harder and more labored the further they tried to move. After a few more agonizing minutes, Elisa barely noticed the growing lightness in the sky until Goliath stared off to the east with great concern.

"Too late," he breathed with heavy weakness, "I'll never make it back…before sunrise."

Elisa only looked at him confused, wondering what he meant. Lifting himself from her shoulders, Goliath dragged himself to a small opening between trees on the side of the open path, only saying in a broken low voice that he was helpless and defenseless during the day and soon she will understand as he fell to his knees with a heavy tired thud.

Elisa's concern for him only grew as he gave her a pleading look before closing his eyes, sounds of movement making her turn quickly to see those same armored commandos following them from the way they had just come.

How did those lunatics find them so quickly?!

Just as she warned Goliath that they had to go, the most unbelievable thing happened right before her eyes; Goliath's entire form became hard and ruff as it turned from a shadowy lavender to cold slate grey with a faint sound like cracking rocks. Elisa gave a deep gasp in awe and fear, astonished by what she saw; Goliath was now a solid stone statue before her. Had she really just been insanely talking to a statue this whole time?

She lightly placed her hand on his now stone cold shoulder, calling his name with worry.

No response.

Like she should actually expect one from a _statue_.

No, her instincts told her that he was real, the frozen sleeping expression on his face more than enough proof. And now as he said, he was now vulnerable, somehow trapped within a stone casing. One of many secrets she was now sure he had been keeping from her.

As the commandos drew closer to where they hid, Elisa's cop instincts kicked in. She knew what she had to do now; draw them away from Goliath and take them down one at a time. Part of her did not want to leave him alone but she became fired up with determination to not let those armored thugs find him. Jumping from her hiding place, she let them see her for just a minute as she dashed down the path away from her solidified friend.

Fighting off the commandos had not been easy, for she knew that they were no brainless street thugs but highly trained and discipline soldiers. Fortunately, they were not the only ones here with specialized combat training. The only complaint that she had was getting her clothes wet when she dove into the lake to escape an exploding boathouse. Still, just this morning she had gone through a lot just for a 'piece of lawn sculpture.'

All day she stayed with the Gargoyle statue, guarding him like a precious treasure with tireless vigilance though she grew a bit weary from little sleep. Very few passersby came and went, such as an early morning jogger, all glimpsing with curiosity at the new large statue but took no other interest in it.

The day passed without much incident, Elisa catching sleep whenever she could as she kept watch over her friend, wondering if he was going to be alright or this was permanent. The Sun finally set, night steadily following the day in its endless cycle, a loud cracking sound awoke Elisa from her dozing as she saw cracks spider around Goliath's stone shell then suddenly see the stone shell explode outward from the fearsome Gargoyle as he stood strong and proudly with flared wings and roaring to the air. It had to be the most amazing thing Elisa had ever seen since meeting the Gargoyle.

Where last night he was weak and tiring from some unknown sedative and struggling to stay on his feet, now he seemed stronger than before, refreshed as though it never happened. This 'stone sleep' must be pretty amazing if it can rejuvenate a Gargoyle.

Even more amazing was Goliath's own amazement and appreciativeness for what she had done for him in staying with him all day.

"Thank you," he graciously said, Elisa simply shrugged.

"It's very possible that you saved my life," he gently said as he extended his large hand to her in gratitude. She cautiously placed her hand into his, easily seeing how it was twice her hand's size and could easily crush it, yet his sharp talons wrapped around hers with such remarkable gentleness she had no fear of it.

Something had been sealed between them now, she was sure. Perhaps a kind of trust and friendship where they no longer needed to prove themselves to each any more. Yes, they were even now, but more importantly she felt a bond to him that had to be something more than just kinship.

They held hands for perhaps a moment longer than necessary before Goliath said with a bit of awkwardness that he had to return home, giving a nod and a smile when she expressed hope of seeing him again later tonight.

"Who do you think they were?" Elisa quickly asked as Goliath prepared to leave, a scowl coloring his strong craggy features.

"They were the same armed humans that attacked my home two nights ago; no doubt they had tried to finish what they started then and failed, thanks to you."

Elisa looked away in thought for a moment as she watched Goliath climb a tall tree for a good height for gliding.

"I'll see what I can find out. I'll meet you on the same rooftop later when I find something."

He gave her another nod and a smile as he spread his enormous wings and gracefully took to the sky, Elisa watching in lighthearted fascinated awe for a few moments.

Because she had to first get out of the park and then find her car, Elisa was nearly late for her first shift of the night which greatly annoyed her. Immediately dismissing the thought, her investigative mind went straight to working on finding out what company that beetle like logo belonged to. As she went through files on her police computer she also mentally reviewed her experience of the last two nights, for something about it was bothering her, something was just not right. It could not be her encounter with the Gargoyles, even with Goliath, amazing as that is; definitely not something that happens every day, but she was sure it was more some unexpected blessing than a great cosmic joke on her life now that she had gotten to know them a bit.

Maybe it was their story and the claim that magic is real, yet scientific evidence had proven much to the contrary and could be logically explained and proven. Although, it might also be plausible for evolution to give rise to more than one intelligent species, it was strange no fossil evidence had been found so far to prove otherwise. In her experience she had seen some really weird things, but both as a person and a police officer she always tries to remain open and objective and not judge a book by its cover on the first impression.

Maybe magic is real, who knows. Stranger things can happen.

Maybe it was her meeting with Xanatos, something about that guy just put her teeth on edge, and then there was his claim of a robbery from a rival company, Cyberbiotics, and then the same mercenaries that attacked the castle suddenly find her and Goliath in Central Park? He had clearly tried to keep her from finding out about the Gargoyles, so what else was he hiding?

A match to the logo she had found finally appeared on her computer; it belonged to a company called the Scarab Corporation which specialized in robotics and cybernetic technology. Digging a bit deeper, Elisa searched through the files for anything else about this Scarab Corporation, hoping for a clue as to why they would attack Goliath and her.

Elisa's suspicions began to rise, partially expecting to find this company to be a subsidiary of Cyberbiotics when something caught her observant eye.

She knew there was something she did not like about that guy. She had to tell Goliath.

Elisa was in her car when a call about a robbery by winged monsters on a research island in the bay was heard over her police scanner. As she pulled out into the street it was followed closely by another reported robbery in an underground facility by two more frightening monsters, Elisa rapidly made a U turn for the direction the facility was supposed to be in.

Could she have actually misjudged them? Were they not protectors but some sort of malevolent monsters that followed orders with blind loyalty?

She did not want to believe it but it could be the Gargoyles behind these robberies, so she had to find Goliath, get his side of the story.

An explosion suddenly loomed from high above, Elisa looked up to see the infamous flying Fortress falling from the sky, several of its engines on fire. Weaving crazily through the streets of Manhattan with her siren wailing, she drove in pursuit of the Fortress, keeping it in view as it lost altitude. The Fortress fell from the sky like a burning alien spaceship from a cheesy 1980s sci-fi movie into the river, the crew jumping from the airship into the water in panicking droves as it went up in smoke. Elisa suddenly stopped her car from the road's edge as she watched the disastrous scene unfold, thick black smoke rose from the sinking airship to block out city lights and any visible stars. From the thick smoke Elisa suddenly saw two winged figures like dark fallen angels of Purgatory soaring away from the wreckage, although far off she recognized one well while the other she could not place. Was that a Gargoyle woman?

"Goliath?"

It couldn't be.

But it seemed her suspicions were true.

Confusion and worry grew within Elisa's gut, her heart sank a bit as she watched Goliath and his companion fly off into the night like typical criminals fleeing the scene. She began to wonder if she had been wrong about the Gargoyles, about Goliath. Had he lied to her? Had she been taken in by his naïveté and supposed nobility? Or had he been used and was unaware of it?

Elisa stayed long enough for police boats and rescue teams to arrive as they began fishing survivors out of the cold filthy river of the downed Fortress. She found a soaking wet and miserable scientist wrapped in a thermal blanket near one of the newly arrived ambulances and being attended to by the paramedics, he quickly answered her questions with miserable reluctance about what happened and what had been taken, still shaken up by the whole experience. She quickly put in a report to her captain about what she had seen happen and she was going to follow up a lead.


	4. Chapter 4

It felt like forever to her before she finally returned to the building across from the Eyrie to meet with Goliath, having arrived at the rooftop just in time to see him come in for a hard landing, although mightily graceful she could tell he seemed agitated by something with the brooding expression on his face and the hard thump in his landing, and the somewhat stiff way he caped his marvelous leathery wings around his shoulders with dignity. It all too well matched her own eagerness and apprehensiveness of confronting him about what happened. Part of her had been worried that he would not show up at all, that she had been lied to from the beginning, but her instincts told her otherwise and she had always trusted her instincts.

"Where have you been?" she almost shot accusatorily, "I've been looking all over town for you."

"Why?" was all Goliath asked.

She then told him about the reported robberies and seeing him and another gargoyle flying away from the wrecked airship. She wanted the truth, what _was_ this really all about? He had simply stated that the disks were stolen from Xanatos and they had returned them to him.

She then showed him a copy of the symbol she had seen, which he only regarded with a bit of confusion until she told him what it represented and who owned the robotics firm. This was clearly a great surprise to Goliath as he began to understand what she was trying to tell him. Xanatos had used him all along, shock coloring his face. Elisa could only feel for him, understanding the hurt he must be feeling as she revealed this betrayal.

He had been through more than she could truly understand, a strange creature in a world completely alien to him with no one to count on and trust in. But what he needed was a true friend, someone to reassure him, someone that he could trust, someone he can feel a kin to. He had put his trust in the wrong person and it was now crumbling before him.

"Listen, Goliath," she calmly said, "We haven't known each other very long and I know you don't have any good reason to trust humans."

He only looked away from her, not wanting to listen. She gently cupped his suede textured face to look him deep in the eyes with patience and reassurance, in his eyes she could see uncertainty and the ghost of a deep pain that haunted him.

"But you've got to trust _somebody_ in this world," she asserted to him with strong sincerity in her voice, "And I think you'd be better off with _me_ than Xanatos."

Goliath growled dangerously from deep within his barreled chest as he squeezed the paper to a pulp.

"You won't regret it," she assured him with a smile and a gentle hand to his large shoulder.

He remained silent for several long moments, clearly deep in thought. She could tell that he wanted to trust her, but something was making him hesitate, something deeply personal.

"Someone just told me humanity is our enemy, but you have just shown me again, Elisa Maza, that not all humans are evil, yet I cannot trust them all."

"I'm glad to hear that," she smiled at him, then frowned as she asked, "Who would tell you such a terrible thing?"

"Someone I thought I knew," he said with a quiet tone that seemed a bit familiar to Elisa, frown lines deepening on both of their faces.

BAAM!

The two now unlikely friends momentarily gawked at the sudden explosion that echoed from the castle, the same question ran through both of their minds as Elisa gave it word, "What the hell was that?!"

But Goliath had already leaped into the air before the first word left her mouth, and in the next microsecond she was down the stairs and in her car heading again straight for the lion's den.

She dashed through the lobby, only momentarily showing the security guard her badge and shouting about 'police business,' and leaped straight into the elevator. It took forever for the quick transit lift into the castle, but already she could hear faint explosions as the elevator shook slightly from the shock, making her grab tightly to the railing. The doors finally opened to the Great Hall of Xanatos' sky castle, Elisa running at top speed to find Goliath or any of the others. Despite the adrenaline rush to hurry, the castle was still bigger than she thought and she was dreadfully unfamiliar with it. Running outside, an explosion of some kind caught her eye and she ran in its direction, up stairs and across a rampart to under another nearby turret in time to be nearly blown back by another explosion from a large fired off weapon. Elisa became sure that someone was going to be arrested tonight, if not for anything else but safety violation and illegal weapons possession. Just outside she saw Goliath suddenly land painfully flat on his face as he was confronted by an unfamiliar blue skinned gargoyle with wild rock and roll red hair, and from the looks of it a very attractive female.

"What are you doing?!" Goliath shouted in disoriented confusion.

"Let's just let them play out their little drama, shall we?" she heard Xanatos say smugly, Elisa picturing perfectly a smug smile on his face to go with his tone of voice. At that moment she wanted to push in his face like a cartoon, but her cop instincts told her to stay put in the shadows for now, observe what unfolds and pick her moment. Answers were needed.

The unknown gargoyle called Goliath a fool, which made Elisa snare a bit because she knew it was not true, then began ranting about some bargain and plan for the humans of their time, every word of her monologue dripping with anger and hatred and that she believed it was justified in every way. It was something Elisa had seen all too often in her police career, people seeming to live for hatred's own sake which created a vicious cycle of feeding upon itself with no end as things around them grew and changed for the better, their vision so narrow they become blind to other things around them. A kind of cycle they always felt they were never at fault of but everyone else was really the problem, that their personal scapegoat were the bane of their existence and every remnant of it had to be destroyed in one form or another; and just as predictably the blue female placed the blame on Goliath.

She then claimed that 'all of humanity has to pay for what they did to our kind,' Elisa shook her head in pity at this because it sounded pathetic that this female would go mad with rage at a whole race over a few insults. It sounded to Elisa as though this 'woman' was really in denial, something else she had heard many times in her career, when someone would not admit to themselves their own responsibilities.

Elisa always pitied such people, and wanted to give them a chance to make a better choice. Now this ranting woman had that same pity.

"There is good and evil in all of us, human and gargoyle alike." She heard Goliath proclaim, Elisa nodded her head proudly at this, completely agreeing with Goliath. Maybe now he could get this woman to see reason.

Instead she just heard the female continue to rant, calling humanity a 'poison that must be purged from this planet' which Elisa tried not to take personally. The human race may not be perfect with all of its flaws, but Elisa knew the good it was capable of for she had seen people try to rise above flaws to better themselves and the world such as she had tried to do when she was younger.

She then heard something about creating a new world and how Goliath had once trusted and even loved this woman a long time ago.

"We have found each other again after a thousand years of solitude. Does that mean nothing to you?" The pleading in the woman's voice seemed to be tinged with something that made the tone of her voice she was trying to portray sound phony, and yet Elisa felt a small twinge in her chest telling her she really did not like this woman.

Jealousy?

No, she could not suddenly be jealous; she had just met Goliath not two nights ago.

Now she understood. Goliath had mentioned loosing many in his clan, even his beloved mate; that had to be who this woman was. In a sense that meat that he was 'married' and a grieving 'widower.' But from the impression she was getting of the blue female, she did not seem like a very nice person nor could understand what Goliath might have seen in her to be mated with such a ranting crazy bitch.

Elisa risked a peek to the rampart, only seeing Goliath's back to her, his posture still yet his broad shoulders were slightly slumped in brooding, and the blue female looking at him with an expectant yet demanding and burning rage in her eyes.

When he did not answer the blue woman's question immediately she just proclaimed Goliath her enemy if not her ally, then suddenly fired off the canon she held; a rocket hit the tower Elisa hid under forcing her to jump down a few steps for cover, over the explosion she thought she could hear Goliath cry out. Fearing that he had been hurt, Elisa raced up the stairs to see what had happened to find a thick cloud of smoke covering most of her view but saw Goliath down on his back, if unhurt. The blue woman then stepped out from the thick smoke cover like a dark menace of Hell, her eyes glowed a fiery blood red instead of bright sliver white like she had seen Goliath's eyes glow.

It took Elisa's hearing a few seconds to clear from the loud thunderous explosion, for all she heard the blue woman say was,

"You should know it before you die. I am Demona. Good-bye, Goliath."

Without a second thought for herself or her own safety, Elisa ran out to the rampart and threw herself onto this Demona, making the bazooka fire off in a random direction. No matter what the species murder was murder, and Elisa had seen too much of it in her career as a police officer, and from the demented gloating and snaring in Demona's voice Elisa knew this was one of those psychotic types who would easily kill without a second thought.

A spectacular explosion thundered from above as a stone tower came crashing down from massive destruction caused by the stray rocket. The destroyed turret crashed between her and Demona, causing further destruction as the stone ground beneath her feet crumbled and fell. Elisa tried to grab falling stones but she too began to fall as the ground beneath her feet crumbled and fell, her fears of the other night returned in full. But in as many nights Goliath soared down without hesitation to grab her hand to rescue her from a fateful plummet.

In as many nights, Elisa saw him for the protector he portrayed himself to be, her new guardian angel.

He swiftly glided them to safety on a stable rampart, Elisa grateful to him for again saving her life. Her gratefulness then turned to deep sorrowful pity as she saw the devastated look on Goliath's face as he saw Demona fall and disappeared between the buildings below. He gave a marvelous howl into the night filled with grief and despair, his magnificent dark wings flared to their full length.

That despair almost turned to a vengeful anger when Goliath almost killed Xanatos on impulse. Though Elisa did not like the guy anyway, what Goliath would have done was not right and he knew it.

Goliath just question what good reason was there _not_ to drop Xanatos to his death.

"Because if you do you're the same as Demona," Elisa calmly told him in a reasoning tone.

Even Hudson agreed with her, Goliath admitting it was not what he wanted as he threw Xanatos hard, making him hit the ground with a grunt. Elisa smiled at Goliath proudly, though she saw him brood with disappointment he also knew that she was right.

Before Xanatos could really straighten himself out from his embarrassing fall Elisa jumped him and cuffed him as she said, "You're under arrest, Xanatos."

"Exactly on what charge, Detective?" he asked with cool arrogance.

"Receiving stolen property, weapons fire in an occupied building, property damage, and I'm sure I can find a few other things."

Xanatos just smirked at her as though she really had nothing on him, but it was not long before he was in the back of a police black and white on the way to be booked and jailed. Though Elisa felt triumphant at delivering justice for the night she knew it was temporary, but she had done it because it was her job, her mission in life, her purpose. It was not perfect, but it was a system that could work when everyone worked together in it.

Xanatos had proven to Elisa this night that he is indeed a very dangerous man with his vast wealth and Machiavellian charisma. Goliath had said that the medieval castle was his clan's old home but she knew that Xanatos was its true owner, and when he got out from imprisonment Goliath and his clan will be in grave danger.

She will have to convince Goliath and his clan to leave soon, but for now it could wait. It was too close to sunrise and Goliath was still brooding from the loss of someone he cared about yet again and the shock of her betrayal, as well as his confusion in dealing with Xanatos, though it had been right.

"Do you think she survived?" he asked Hudson in a low tone.

Hudson was not sure but they may soon find out.

Elisa sympathized with Goliath, for no one deserved to go through what he had tonight. She told him this and she will help him in any way she could because they were friends now. She will keep an eye pealed for Demona, and if he wanted Elisa will try to help Goliath reconcile with his lost love, for if Demona ever truly loved him then there was hope of finding happiness again.

"It's nice to know I have at least one human friend in this new world," he told her with a smile as he took a spot on the tallest tower of Castle Wyvern.

Elisa appreciated this, hoping one day he will have lots more human friends. But no matter what she will always be his friend.

They then arrange to meet again that night, Elisa thinking that they could catch a Giants game.

"Giants?" Goliath said with a confused look on his face which froze in stone for the day's sleep.

"I wonder if this city's ready for you guys," Elisa asked herself with wry amusement, watching the Sun rise and thinking to herself that her life just got a whole lot more interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

The next several weeks were not easy, especially in trying hard as she did in convincing Goliath to leave the castle. On this one issue he would be continually stubborn to such a hard headed way Elisa almost became convinced that his head was still made of stone during the night. He just plainly refused to see that things were different now than they had been in the Middle Ages, though Xanatos had been defeated and put in prison the castle was still legally his property; lock, stock, and gargoyle, and his imprisonment was only temporary and getting shorter because of Xanatos's slick as oil lawyers.

Time was running out and she had to get the gargoyles out of that castle and some place safe; such as the old gothic clock tower above her precinct station, which proved to be the perfect new home for them in many ways.

However, there were also other problems that had to be dealt with.

Demona indeed had resurfaced not long after Xanatos had been jailed, having placed a spell on Goliath that had turned him into a mindless obedient zombie. For a short while Elisa still had a bit of a problem in accepting that magic of any kind was real, for the world she lived in had been a scary enough place and it was easier to accept logical reasoning science for explanations instead of magic spells. Yet as she got to know the gargoyles more and more, the possibility of magic grew on her, allowing her to see it as another mystery her detective nature challenged her to solve.

The spell sounded simple enough, just hold it and tell Goliath what to do.

If it cannot be removed then use it instead.

She ordered him to act like himself again if he were never under a spell, a clever idea that worked well and Goliath was himself again, which earned her such gratefulness from the clan. She knew Brooklyn would carry the guilt of that night for a long time, but Elisa did not judge him for it but forgave him like the clan had. Not wanting to take any chances with Demona getting a hold of the spell again she soon burned the page.

She knew the real blame was with Demona for it was she who had placed the spell on Goliath. From what Brooklyn had told Elisa of what had happened the spell was supposed to make Goliath see the real 'truth' about humans; they were all evil and the gargoyles' enemies. Elisa tried not to take it personally, for she had proven to the clan several times already humans were not all like Demona believed. In a sense Elisa could only pity Demona as she has for many others in her career, but it also angered her a bit that Demona would go so far as to brainwash someone who she was supposed to love.

Part of Elisa began to think there may be no chance of reconciliation between this Demona and Goliath, for whatever they may have once had it was now gone. This too she had seen in her career as a police detective, she had friends at the station who had gone through divorce because their spouses could not deal with the stresses of police work, or when she had been a beat cop there had been call ins for domestic abuse by husbands who had beaten their wives, then came messy divorces for the luckier ones.

Being a cop had always forced her to face the harsh realities of life, especially about matters of love. But then she remembers her parents, her father a retired police officer himself, and how both he and her mother Diane had stuck together through such tough times, which always gave Elisa such hope and faith in the world. Their love for each other was stronger than any pain life threw at them, and Elisa hoped to have something like they did some day.

Once she actually thought she found it, but now it was something she never wanted to think about from her past ever again.

After that night, she would often find Goliath in the castle library reading a book but often brooding again. She would ask if he wanted to talk about it but he just politely refused. So Elisa just let him be, allowing him time to decide when he would be ready to talk.

During her time in the hospital after she had been accidently shot with her own gun by Broadway, she had the strangest dreams; many of them she did not understand at the time, but then who actually understood dreams at all. They were mostly about her, Demona, and Goliath (For full story, read about it in _What Dreams May Come_, coming soon). One thing she vaguely remembered was hearing Goliath's deep basso voice pleading her to hold on, to come back to them. Also something about finding the one who shot her and making him pay.

When she awoke, aside from her family the first ones she saw were Goliath and Broadway. They had been so relieved she was going to be alright from her wounds; Broadway even apologizing for his mistake, and she having made one of her own, both promising each other to never repeat them. Goliath told her to rest and she was safe with a sound of relief in his voice as he gently touched her cheek. It seemed strange how she wanted his company in her room during the day, not wanting him to leave. But they hadn't, waking a few times during the day to find Goliath and Broadway outside her window in stone sleep as though to guard her even then like vigilant guardian angels.

A week later she learned that Broadway was being punished for his mistake with sweeping the entire castle for the week Elisa remained in the hospital. Somehow that must have been Goliath's way of going easy on Broadway, after learning about what he went through that night.

It was not until her friends were attacked at the castle again by some maniac with high tech weapons calling himself Macbeth that Elisa finally felt she had no choice but to get the gargoyles to safety immediately. Yet again Goliath was stubborn about the whole issue, his temper flared at her in a way she had never seen before with his wings flared to their full length and every word he spoke an angry tiger growl. It was nothing she could not handle as she just yelled back at him, trying to reason with him the castle was no longer safe for his clan, how she could not protect them during the day.

It was not until after she convinced Hudson and Broadway to leave when Goliath returned from rescuing the rest of the clan she was able to relocate them, and even then Goliath became stubbornly angry with her good intentions. She had gone against his wishes, in a sense had usurped his leadership, even when Hudson and Broadway supported her. Her actions revealed a side to Goliath she had never seen before, anger turning wrathful on her as he roared his outrage at her, the one time she actually became afraid of him since first meeting him.

She understood a bit better now why he was leader; his patience and altruistic protective nature curbed the temperament of not just a formidable warrior, but in a sense he also is a force of nature to be reckoned with.

Although he forgave her soon after, she still winced away from him when he tried to touch her in appreciation at the clock tower above her precinct. He swore to her he would never intentionally hurt her, but Elisa still needed a bit of time to recover in order to trust him about it again.

As the weeks past the clan steadily grew accustomed to their new home, Elisa visiting at every opportunity she found, she had even given them an old television set a friend was going to sell as a kind of house warming gift.

Unfortunately, the visits were made more difficult when she was assigned a new partner, a Detective Matthew Bluestone, her first day back on the force, making Elisa all the more weary when making excuses to secretly see her friends.

Lexington had become ecstatic about restoring the clock itself, while Broadway experimented with a hot plate Elisa also gave them to make their own meals with. Goliath discovered the library, where again Elisa found him brooding as well as reading books such as Doysteiski. Although he had adjusted a bit to his 'living situation' he expressed to her his growing anger with Xanatos, the way that man humiliated the clan when he used them and then stealing his clan's ancestral home; how he wanted to regain his home and make Xanatos pay.

Yes, she could see Goliath had felt violated, though she reassured him Xanatos wouldn't be on top forever.

However, it was not until her younger brother, Derek, a helicopter pilot and cop himself, received a job offer from Xanatos that Elisa got a better appreciation for that violation Goliath must have been feeling.

They clashed over his decision to work for Xanatos until Goliath got them to remember to appreciate what they had as a family, and it had even been Goliath who encouraged her to reveal the clan to her brother if it meant saving him from Xanatos.

And it will be Goliath who would be there for her when she thought her brother was lost to her forever.

Frustrations were not made any easier when Demona reared her ugly vengeance again when she tried to kill Elisa and the clan twice more; the first time she actually invaded Elisa's own apartment and she was shot yet again by Demona, who just casually told Elisa she had been poisoned, and then again during a situation with a cybernetic creature called Coldstone.

During that first confrontation, Goliath became more protective of her even though Elisa was perfectly fine for the poisoned dart had hit her badge instead of her beating heart. Yet he insisted Broadway and Lex guard her until morning, while he and Hudson confronted Demona. Elisa could tell he still had feelings for her and tried not to begrudge him for it, which surprised Elisa for feeling such things. Goliath was her friend and needed her support if there was any chance of reconciliation with his old love and redeeming her.

Yet part of her knew that his pursuit of reaching Demona to give up her vengeance streak was futile. From what Elisa had seen from the few times she has met the crazy gargess, she was too far gone for any chance of reuniting with Goliath and the clan. Still, she knew he had to try, otherwise he wouldn't believe it to be worth it. Sometimes there were successes of reaching irredeemable people, but not always, however all attempts to help them were always worth the effort.

The last time Demona tried to kill Goliath and the clan, Elisa again heard her rant on about how it was Goliath's fault their clan was destroyed because he had trusted the humans. Over the commlink she had given him, she heard him say Demona had no clan and did not know the meaning of the word, making Elisa pity the woman a bit more.

During that battle Goliath had nearly drowned in the icy cold river twice, worrying Elisa to death of almost losing a dear friend who she now could not imagine her life without.

She also learned a bit later about who Coldstone really was, and like her own brother Goliath believed he had lost a beloved family member once again. The conflict had further stirred something in Goliath earlier in the night when Elisa told him about the police motto of Protect and Serve, which greatly fascinated him. As he followed her during her patrol shift, he came to better appreciate her work and what it meant to her. Her friend greatly compared it with what he had been raised to believe in the old clan; it was a gargoyle's nature and purpose to protect, something she now understood Goliath felt his clan had been lacking.

From that night on, she was proud to hear Goliath proclaim his clan will protect all who lived on this island called Manhattan, human and gargoyle alike.

Concern for him grew within her after this latest attack and having lost his brother, so she asked him if he needed anything.

"Yes," he said gently, "I need a detective."

Sharing a simple smile of understanding to each other, they and the rest of the clan flew into the night. Together their first task of protecting the city began with a thief who had robbed a small general store several times.


	6. Chapter 6

The next few weeks proved straining for Elisa, because several cases involved Xanatos again.

The Pack had escaped from prison, save for Fox, who had gotten an early parole instead; with help by a new robot named Coyote, which bared a striking resemblance to Xanatos himself; she and the clan had also thought Xanatos wanted some artifacts called the Scrolls of Merlin, but it had been this weirdo Macbeth again; Coldstone had also somehow survived his fall in the frozen river from last winter and had been revealed to have other gargoyle souls living within his body which was made from combined science and sorcery by Xanatos and Demona.

But the worst of them all had realized her greatest fear; her brother and several others had been transformed by Xanatos and some crazy clichéd mad scientist called Anton Sevarius into a creature meant to resemble a gargoyle, even calling himself Talon.

She had tried to warn her brother and failed him; Xanatos in his unfathomable amorality had destroyed someone she deeply cared about, a member of her family.

Her loathing for him deepened to possibly rival Goliath's animosity towards the billionaire. Even declaring that he will be brought down no matter what it takes.

It was war now.

She wanted to be alone for awhile as she grieved the lost of her brother that night, her tears like a downpour for the storm of pain gripping her wounded soul, though she was not the only one to weep. Brooklyn had also suffered heartache that night, but he knew it was pale compared to hers. Goliath later held her close as he offered her a place to weep, to allow her to know she was not alone in her pain. He even stayed for the day at her apartment after he had taken her home. He made a promise that no matter what they will find and get Derek and the others back, just like they will get his trapped brother and sister back.

Elisa knew she could never ask for a better friend than Goliath.

If only things were different.

* * *

This indeed would prove to be the strangest night of Elisa's life, beginning with the theft of an antique mirror belonging to someone called Titania from the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Demona. She and Goliath were able to prevent the rogue Gargoyle's theft of the mirror as they chased her through the museum and then through the park to Cleopatra's needle. The vengeful red head even attempted to skewer Elisa with a stolen old spear which was impressively and easily caught at the last second from the air by Goliath.

Although they had to let Demona escape, she thought they had a small victory in preventing the blue female's burglary until she learned shortly after that two other thieves had stolen the mirror while she and Goliath chased Demona through the park, clearly having acted as a decoy.

Surely it was just an antique full body mirror and nothing else, what possible threat could it really be?

According to Hudson it wasn't just a mirror, but Titania's Mirror, and Titania was some kind of queen of something called the Third Race.

Her confusion surprised the Gargoyles a bit as they explained what it meant; Gargoyles are the first race, humans are the second, and the Third Race were called Oberon's Children, also called the Fair Folk by the Scotsmen and Dark Elves by the Vikings.

"They are changelings, shape shifters," Goliath explained, "creatures of pure magic, and their possessions like the mirror are vessels of great power."

Elisa could only laugh a bit at what she was being told, clearly not believing what she was hearing, having only been told they were fantasy and fairy tales as a little girl and having always been a skeptic about such things at heart as an adult.

"You mean they're real?" she asked.

"As real as I am, if the stories be true," Hudson said with a whimsical smile.

Considering whom her friends are, perhaps there may be a ring of truth to what they are saying. If Gargoyles, magic spells, and wizards are real why not elves and fairies?

The Trio then spent a few minutes excitedly talking about being shape shifters, wanting to fit in, finding new friends, or even love.

This made Elisa glimpse to Goliath, who met her eyes at the same moment. In that frozen moment she was certain they shared the same thought, how amusing the Trio's talk was about such wishful thinking yet at the same time, both of them wanted something similar.

Yet Elisa knew this was never to be, for she refused to risk having her heart broken again, and having any kind of relationship was totally impossible in her career.

Yet for some reason, at that moment she wanted to stand close and feel that impressive muscular bicep and warm flesh against her cheek, a thought she quickly shook away from her mind as she remembered the current situation.

"Mirror or no mirror," she said to her friends with a renewed determination, "Demona's no match for us together. We just have to wait until she makes her move."

She felt more confident and reassured in her certainty of stopping Demona, because what they lacked in 'magic' or weapons against her, they far more than made up for in friendship and comradery, especially with Goliath and his unwavering sense of justice and righteousness.

But the feeling was fleeting as the next moment she suddenly felt herself floating into the air by an unseen force with a will of its own and a strange frightening feeling of no longer being herself as it was snatched away, as though she were being changed into something not herself yet her true self at the same time.

There was a blinding flash of light as she heard Goliath call out her name, and the next moment she was standing on the cold stone floor again as she felt a brief wave of dizziness as she touched her head and took a few short breaths. She looked up to see Goliath looking her over with surprise and concern, which confused her for just a moment, but it passed in a microsecond as she looked up at him and gave a big smile as she realized something truly wonderful; he was a Gargoyle, just like _her_.

"Goliath," she breathed happily as she embraced him, "This is wonderful, you've been changed into a Gargoyle."

"What?" he gasped as he pulled her off of himself, confusing her a bit again.

"Don't you know what this means?" she said with a growing thrill, "We're the same now, you're all Gargoyles like me now."

"What the blazes is she talking about?" asked Broadway with his own confusion.

"We've always been Gargoyles," Goliath told her with patience with a tone as though it was obvious, " _You're_ the one who's been changed, probably by Demona and the mirror."

"I've _always_ been a Gargoyle," Elisa told him with a bit of a scoff, certain he was just being ridiculous for some reason, "I'd think I'd know if I wasn't."

Goliath just gave another perplexed look as he asked her, "Don't you remember anything? We chased Demona through the park earlier tonight, but she was just a distraction while thieves took Titania's Mirror we were attempting to keep her from stealing."

"Of course I remember all that, Goliath," she said with some confusion and a bit of annoyance at him, "I also remember how you caught a spear in midair and kept it from skewing me into a copcobab."

The clan gave looks to each other as Goliath then led her outside to the clock tower terrace and asked her, "How did we first meet?"

"I fell off of a skyscraper, and you glided down and caught me," she answered, still confused by all these ridiculous questions.

"Think," he insisted as he took her shoulders, "If you've always had wings, why did you need me to catch you?"

"I can't glide with these," she said with doubt as she looked back and moved her wings a bit, but then became intrigued as she asked, "Can I?"

"Yes, you can," Goliath said with confidence as he took her arm and dove off of the terrace, making her gasp in surprise and some fear, certain she was going to fall to her doom.

But her fear evaporated in an instant as she felt air currents fill her wings, lifting her and Goliath higher above the towering buildings to feel freer than she ever thought possible in her entire life.

Though she knew it was an entirely different world above the towering skyscrapers from which she had only seen from the safety of his warm muscular embrace, somehow this was different as she felt the air caress and tickle her face and felt the airstreams fill her wings, encouraging them to spread wide and soar higher away from the troubles of the crazy world below.

For a few minutes, they just soared freely together as she hung onto his large sinewy bicep, her mind so overwhelmed with exhilaration she was unsure of whether to focus on the view of the city and horizon opened before them or upon Goliath as he glided with her arm in arm, commanding the winds with his magnificent stormy cloud wings with such ethereal grace which belied his warrior's build and size to make him even more majestic in her eyes.

He seemed to notice her close observing of him, looking to her as she averted her gaze in bashfulness as a small smile spread across her face and felt her cheeks flush warmly.

He gave his own small smile as he said seemingly flirtatiously, "I never noticed when you where human how beautiful you are."

"You mean you thought I was ugly?" she teased with her ever present wit.

"Well, uh…," he stammered, but then suddenly shifted their bearing upon the air for some seconds as he cried, "Careful, updraft!"

With a gentle but firm grip he held her out further upon the air as he glided them in a graceful small circle, making her laugh with school girl giddiness and exhilaration.

"Why haven't I done this before?" she asked.

"You couldn't, you were human," he told her as they flew lower to near street level as he showed her a most bewildering sight, "Look."

"Oh, no!" she gasped at the people below, "Look at them!"

"Maybe we should land somewhere, and talk."

They landed on a nearby rooftop a short time later to meet the rest of the clan, Elisa wasted no time in telling them of her shock over what has happened to the people in the city.

"Did you see? Everyone in Manhattan's been turned into a…a _human_!"

But Goliath could only face palm as he sighed in frustration, "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Look!" Hudson cried as he pointed to a strange flickering light atop one of the buildings of the World Trade Center, which gradually increased in brightness and luminescence moments later to spread across the city as another beacon in the night to nearly blind the clan and Elisa.

"What was that?" she asked with confusion when the light finally faded.

"It can only be Demona," Hudson stated gruffly, jumping from the rooftop to head for the World Trade Center and the light's not so mysterious source.

But Elisa was reluctant as she cried out, "Wait!"

She jumped onto the ledge in hopes of following her friends, but upon looking down to the street below fear over took her as she gasped and just collapsed to her knees.

All she could do for now was wait for her friends to return, and hopefully having defeated the crazy blue Gargess.

A short while later they all returned with a familiar object, but the bad news was they lost Demona in the subway below ground because everyone in Manhattan had been turned into Gargoyles now as well, just like Elisa. But it also turned out Demona was not alone as they mentioned seeing a strange being with her.

Having heard about what happened to the people in the city, Elisa at first wasn't sure to feel relieved or even more weirded out as things were just getting more and more bizarre tonight.

"Alright, we got the mirror, now what?" Brooklyn asked.

"That was one of Oberon's Children with Demona, no doubt about it," Hudson said with his thick Scottish brogue as he stroked his beard, and all Elisa could do was listen with intrigue and confuse.

"Ah," Goliath sighed as he touched his craggy chin in thought, "She called him Puck."

"In Shakespeare's play, Puck was a harmless trickster," Elisa said, having immediately recognized the name.

"What happened below wasn't harmless," Goliath said bluntly as he again walked to the ledge, "Come, we must continue our search for them."

As he leaped upon the ledge and spread his wings, Elisa could only gasp in apprehension, "I'll never get the hang of jumping off rooftops."

But Goliath just reassured her with a confident smile, "I'll always be there to catch you."

He gracefully leaped out into the air, gliding with such ease a short distance as he turned back to her and just seemed to float upon the air as he said, "See, it's easy."

She just gave a small smile at his reassurance as she prepared to climb upon the ledge and leap out to join him upon the winds. But the moment was interrupted when a familiar beam of light shot out from somewhere to envelope the Gargoyles and blinded them all.

The next moment Elisa saw a now human Goliath falling in midair, screaming in fear as he fell to his certain doom.

"Goliath!" she cried, and just leaped from the building ledge without hesitation.

He fell several stories before Elisa finally caught him in her arms, letting the updraft fill her wings and lift them back up to the roof, but they were just short of it as she sank her claws into the side of the concrete building to catch them and keep them from falling again.

The rest of the now human clan helped them back up with a bit straining, but at least Goliath was safe now.

Hudson took a white sheet from a laundry liner to cover up the mirror as he said, "We don't want anythin' else jumpin' out from this thing."

A disoriented Goliath then mumbled slowly, "A light blinded me, and then…and then I fell. I've never fallen before."

He then finally noticed Elisa as he took her by the shoulders to cry in elation, "Elisa, you've changed back to normal!"

"No, I haven't, you've changed," she tried to reason with him, "You're a human; you fell because you don't have wings."

Was this what Goliath was feeling, what he was going though? It was ridiculous he thought she was suddenly normal when things weren't right. Somehow his memories were messed up, confusing him as though they had been changed just like him and the rest of the clan.

What the hell was going on?

"Uh, Elisa, we've _always_ been human," a human Brooklyn insisted.

"Aye, we've never needed wings to glide before," Hudson said, though he didn't seem entirely convinced.

"Uh, wait a minute, we must've used wings, how else could we glide?" questioned Lexington, clearly the only one who might believe Elisa.

"Elisa's right," Goliath finally admitted, "We're supposed to be Gargoyles, and we're not. Everyone else is supposed to be human, but thanks to Demona and Puck, they're not."

"So, what're we supposed to do now?" Elisa asked, worry grew within her as their situation steadily became all the more clear to her.

But she knew they weren't the sort to give up, and neither was she, which Goliath proved once again as he said, "We'll take the mirror some place where Demona and Puck can cause less havoc, and find a way to set things the way they're supposed to be."

"But where are we supposed to go, and how are we gonna do it?" asked Broadway.

"Well, first we gotta get down from here, but seeing gliding isn't an option we'll have to take an elevator to the ground," quipped Brooklyn as he gestured to the door, "Goin' down."

Before Goliath followed the rest of his clan, he told Elisa, "Perhaps it would be best if you stayed here, there's no telling what might happen or what Demona would do when we find her again."

"No way, you know I can't do that," Elisa refused, "Besides, considering your situation now, I'm more worried about what she'll do to _you_ , to all of you."

Goliath just gave a small smile, which made him even more handsome even in his new form.

Elisa felt herself blush a bit as she then stammered out, "I'll keep an eye out for things from above while I follow you guys. I think I'm finally getting the hang of these."

She climbed onto the ledge again as the clan made their way to street level, giving Goliath one last smile of confidence.

When everyone left, she took in the view of the height of the city buildings and the beautiful sight before her, yet felt a sting of trepidation as she saw the street below, still a bit apprehensive of trying to glide on her own.

Elisa closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath to calm her nerves to prepare for takeoff.

She counted quietly to three to herself and just jumped before she allowed herself to hesitate more and let instinct take over.

For a fleeting moment her mind was certain she was about to fall to her doom, but she felt the extra limbs upon her back spread with a leathery snap on impulse and she felt the strong air currents once more lift her up as though she weighed nothing and was merely a feather.

This was just too amazing! Elisa gave an ecstatic whoop as she soared upon the air, letting her wings take her where they may as she glided between the skyscrapers of Manhattan, meeting the challenge they presented to her as she navigated her way through the air; zigzagging her way between the buildings like a maze in the sky and not in the least intimidated by their imposing heights.

She was so caught up and lost in the thrill and true sensation of freedom she never noticed she had attracted attention from a few occupants on the higher floors of some business buildings as they stared in confusion and awe of a normal soaring Gargoyle, thinking she had to be crazy or how was she even able to do that.

As Elisa reveled in her flight, feeling at one with the air and the velvety night, part of her began to understand better why her little brother wanted to be a pilot instead of a police officer and how this was so much more real than flying in a copter or a plane.

This is what the Gargoyles got to experience their whole lives.

This thought suddenly snapped her back to reality as she remembered she told Goliath she would follow and meet up with them as soon as she could. She mentally kicked herself for getting distracted and refocused on finding her friends.

But where did they supposedly go? It was a big city and they could be anywhere now.

No, it had to be somewhere close to the rooftop they were just on and where there was little to no people.

She slowed down to get her bearings, and being a native New Yorker Elisa searched her memories and trusted her cop instinct to find them.

As she glided by the rooftop she and her friends had been on earlier, she soared passed for a couple of blocks and spotted a possible place they may have gone and her instincts had been on the nose; she found them in Rockefeller Center and they were doing their best to hold their own against Demona as the Trio valiantly held her down for a short time before being interrupted by angered bystanders, no doubt thinking they were coming to Demona's rescue.

Elisa could have laughed at the scene and was about to help the Trio but then saw the bystanders run the other way in fear as the Trio gave mock scary roars and growls, which she smiled at in pride.

She then saw Demona aim a deadly looking laser weapon at the humanized Goliath as she said, "You're no match for me as a pitiful human."

Honestly, the arrogance of that bitch really grind Elisa the wrong way, but no matter what she knew she couldn't let Demona hurt her best friend.

She instinctively angled herself upon the air as she prepared for a hard kick, and skillfully hit her mark as she heard Goliath say proudly,

"My strength has never depended on brute force, Demona, but on _true_ friends."

Elisa just stood in proud triumph as Demona groaned for a moment on the ground, but then became wide eyed and slack jawed with shock as she gasped,

"Who are you to interfere with-? YOU!?"

The crazy blue Gargoyle was on her feet quickly as she became red eyed with anger and readied to attack Elisa again as she shouted, "What does it take to DESTORY you?!"

Demona leaped at Elisa, but ever vigilant Elisa was ready and proved an equal match to Demona as they wrestled for only some seconds as Elisa shouted to Goliath,

"Goliath, run, I'll handle Demona!"

She then punched Demona in the face hard enough to knock her back some feet , flaring her wings high up proudly despite her aching knuckles as she felt a strong reassuring hand on her shoulder and heard Goliath say,

"We'll handle her _together_."

Unfortunately, that was chance Demona chose to swiftly grab her laser weapon once more and shot at Goliath and Elisa as they dodged out of the way at the last microsecond and the beam blasted a huge hole in a nearby wall.

Elisa jumped and climbed as fast and as high as she could to take wing again as Demona took aim at the rest of the clan, but at the last second Elisa glided swiftly upon the air and kicked her again from behind, making Demona lose her laser again.

As Demona tried to right herself, Goliath grabbed her from behind and tried to hold her in a tight arm hold. But Demona was indeed stronger than the humanized Goliath as she easily broke free from his attempted hold and swung him in a hard circle to send in him careening through the air and hit a window of a nearby department store making a huge spidering crack and fell unconscious to the ground.

Demona became so focused on the unconscious Goliath, Elisa just knew she couldn't let the would-be murderess kill Goliath as she instinctively grabbed the abandoned laser and took aim. Being the skill markswoman she is, she hit her target; the awning over the window and it crashed upon Demona, knocking her out.

Knowing they had finally won, Elisa blew proudly on the laser's barrel.

She then heard another faint crash from below and Brooklyn quip, "Party's over."

Elisa looked back down into the center to see Hudson had dumped a trashcan over who the source of all the chaos had to be tonight.

It took another long minute or two for Goliath to finally stir and awaken as Elisa tried to gently help him back to his feet as he groaned in aching pain from his back. Elisa tried to reassure him a good day's sleep should do the trick and he'll be as good as new, but first they had to put everyone back to normal.

They freed an unconscious Demona from the fallen window shade and Goliath carried her to the lower level as she began to stir with soft moans.

Hudson removed the trashcan from the strange figure's head to reveal an ambiguously male figure with long white hair, sharp but graceful facial features, really big pointed ears, and wearing what Elisa could only identify as an old fashion Medieval jester's outfit but without the goofy clown hat with jingling bells, and for some weird reason he was tied really tightly with chains.

"You must be Puck," Elisa said, "the cause of all this trouble tonight."

"At your service, m'lady," he said with a somehow charming if rather high tenor voice as he tried to give a rather awkward bow in his chains, "You must be _that human_ Demona wanted me to rid her of."

Elisa gave a wide eyed look then just gave him a dirty look as he stammered out, "Hey, it's not my fault, that's just what she said."

"It doesn't matter what she said now," Hudson said gruffly as he grabbed Puck's chains, "'cause it's obvious you purposely misinterpreted her requests, but the question is can you undo what's been done."

"Oh, of course, that should be easy," Puck smirked, "But in order to do it I'll have to do it from a place to get to the whole city."

"Then take us there," Hudson growled as he yanked on Puck's chains hard.

"I will if you take it easy on the chains, Old Soldier," the fae complained, "they're uncomfortable enough as is."

"No doubt you will want something in return once this task is done, if I know the nature of the Third Race. But, first we must have Demona restrained," Goliath said as he saw her slowly stirring and no doubt close to waking up.

"Allow me." Puck snapped his fingers and Elisa could only be a bit astonished as chains appeared around Demona and wrapped tightly around her.

Puck then lead everyone through the mirror, which only confused Elisa for a moment as it was use as a doorway to wherever they needed to go, yet considering everything that's happened tonight it was among the least of which surprised her anymore.

As they made their way through the mirror, moments before Demona finally regained consciousness to yell out in rage, "What is this?! What's happening?"

The next moment, there was a flash of the same bright light which Elisa had to shield her eyes from to then find everyone atop one of the World Trade Center buildings, to which she was confused for only a moment until she looked around and got a rudimentary idea of what Puck needed to do and just gave a small smile.

"It ends now," Goliath declared as he ordered, "Puck, change everyone back to the way they were before Demona summoned you. Do it, and you win your freedom."

"It will be my pleasure," Puck smiled with a bit of a bow while behind him Demona sneered in outrage as she struggled in her chains, clearly enchanted and strong enough even against Gargoyle strength.

Puck then just sighed in exhaustion, "But afterwards, I'm going to need a very long nap. First the humans, I'll attend."

Magic light shot forth from his eyes and mouth and into the mirror, acting like a conduit or focusing lens as the dazzling light surged into the tall metal antenna upon the other tower to amplify its power and shot forth across the city, no doubt instantly changing all the people from gargoyles back into humans as they should be.

An eerily glowing eyed Puck then turned to Elisa, making her apprehensive for a moment when the mystical light enveloped her, making her feel for a fleeting moment strange like something about her was being taken away while at the same time a large part of her was being returned; and the next thing she knew she felt oddly lighter and smaller, but refreshingly 'normal' as she tried to clear her sight of dancing lights and starbursts from her vision.

She then took Goliath's hand as he gentlemanly helped her up from the ground, and they just smiled at each other. This moment just stretched into an eternity as Elisa felt a warmth envelope and radiate from both of them, as though coming together to be as one.

She savored this moment as she not only saw an impressively built and really attractive, drop dead gorgeous even, man standing before her, but she saw someone who was more than a friend to her. It was as though standing before her was something she was blind to, something which had been in front of her all along; some part of her soul, her very self which she never realized she had been missing and he is that other half of her, her very soul mate and something more.

The moment was gone when the dazzling light suddenly encompassed Goliath and the others as in a literal flash they were transformed into Gargoyles again, making Goliath momentarily dizzy as though he got a headache as Puck spoke in a weird rhyme,

"Then the gargoyles will I mend; If his efforts you commend, free Puck, let him homeward wind."

Goliath yanked the chains off of Puck, for a moment Elisa wondered if it was really such a good idea to free such a creature possessing such power. But Goliath had made that deal with the white haired fae and was such a character of honor, she was willing to give the benefit of the doubt for him because before anything could be debated Puck flew around savoring his freedom as he then grabbed Demona by her chains and disappeared into the mirror again in a flash of light, momentarily blinding everybody again as it faded as fast as it flashed.

Elisa then found herself in Goliath's embrace again; barely aware of it as the light flashed and danced before them, but now they just looked at each other as though seeing each other for the first time. Her heart seemed to speed up and pound in her chest and her body seemed to separate from her consciousness as she got lost in his dark eyes and transcend to an ethereal plain.

"Well, that was interesting," they heard Brooklyn say, snapping them both back to reality and suddenly feeling weirdly awkward as Goliath removed his embrace from Elisa, of which part of her was disappointed at.

"So, now what?" Broadway asked, "Was it really a good idea to free Puck, what if he and Demona team up again and cause more of this craziness?"

"I don't think we need to worry about that," Lexington said, "It was pretty obvious Demona was trying to control him like a servant, get him to do things she wanted but he purposefully misinterpreted, it's kinda what the Third Race does anyway. But I don't think we have to worry about Puck for now."

"Yeah, worry about Demona," Brooklyn growled low with lingering hurt anger, but then smirked as he said, "Though I wouldn't mind seeing what he'd do to her in payback."

"We'll worry about them another time, Lads," Hudson said as he pointed to the East, "Sunrise will be here shortly, so it be best for us to take our leave."

"Yes, let's go home," Goliath sighed, "It's been a long night."

The rest of the clan took to the air, yet as Goliath offered to hold Elisa again they both felt really awkward.

Elisa pushed some hair behind an ear as she said with a shrug, "It was nice having wings of my own for a little while."

He just gave a small awkward smile as he said low, "It was strange, yet also enlightening, being able to walk Manhattan's streets for a while, truly see things closer than from above."

"Yeah." She didn't really know what else to say, so she just steeled herself and allowed him to take her into his brawny arms once more as he took to the air.

They just glided in awkward silence back to the clock tower, giving each other a glance every now and then to just avert their gaze if one or the other took notice.

At last everyone made it, feeling exhausted but glad to have the night finally over, though a strange sobering and sad disappointment fell over everyone as the sun slowly peaked over the horizon.

"It's almost dawn," Broadway said quietly.

"I would like to have seen the sun, just once," Hudson said a bit sadly, as though silently agreeing with the younger gargoyle.

Lexington and Brooklyn just gave small nods as they stared out at the lightening sky while Goliath finally just turned to Elisa as though wanting to talk and looking at her in a pleading way she couldn't quite place, yet understood it all too well.

She just wanted to say her good-bye for the day as he started to say something, but interrupted quickly as she said, "Yeah, I know, you're as relieved as I am that things are back to normal."

"That's not what I was going to say…"

She just silenced him as she lightly put a hand on his lips the moment he began to turn to stone for the day.

"I know," she said quietly with some reserved disappointment and sadness, "But that's the way it is."

She slowly made her way downstairs to the station, saying good-bye to her fellow officers and even Matt to get some rest for the day.

It had been a wild and weird night and she was just beyond exhausted from all the craziness. Yet for the rest of the day, her thoughts weighed heavily upon her as she slowly realized things had changed.

But she knew deep down it could never really be, no matter how much she realized she really wanted it. They were just too different, worlds apart.

She didn't want to risk or ruin their friendship, and it was all she was willing to settle for; and that in and of itself was special enough.

At least it made _her_ feel special.


End file.
